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Name:
Lee Eysturlid
What office are you seeking?
Geneva 3rd Ward
What is your political party?
Independent
What is your current age?
58
Occupation and employer:
Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
What offices, if any, have you previously held?
I have not held a public office before.
City:
Geneva
Campaign Website:
N/a
Education:
BA in History (The Citadel)
MA in History (Purdue U)
PhD, specifically History and Political Theory (Purdue U)
Community Involvement:
Boy Scouts of America, Troop 37, I have served over the past decade as an Assistant Scoutmaster and Committee Member. (Also as merit badge councilor, especially Citizenship in the Community.)
Previously served on Church council at Geneva Lutheran.
Marital status/Immediate family:
Married: Erica Eysturlid
Two: Niels and Thor
Questions:
City officials have made it clear that Geneva’s facilities need to be either replaced or extensively remodeled. With the withdrawal of the referendum for this year, do you support a new ballot question for 2026 to get voter support to meet these needs? Why or why not?
The police station as it exists is not adequate. We cannot have our officers in a sub-standard facility. It will need replaced. However, the current numbers for cost and how to pay for it are not realistic. These need revisited. Once a more realistic proposal can be created, the call for a referendum will be necessary.
Discuss how you would implement the Geneva Strategic Plan Advisory Committee plan, which measures the city’s goals and prioritizes its resources.
Upon review of the Strategic Plan, I must admit that I would really want to try and get feedback from citizens in the 3rd Ward about what they saw as a priority. There is a good deal of interesting ideas - better use of land, bike trails, use of landfill, unclear space for affordable senior housing, etc. However, I think that the plan would need to have a clear price tag. Do citizens in the 3rd want to pay for this? Much of the language is aspirational, which is fine, but vague. What exactly is “transitional mixed use”?
Should local law enforcement cooperate with ICE to identify and deport immigrants who do not have legal status to be in the United States?
Geneva law enforcement is placed in a very difficult and I believe a potentially near impossible situation here. We are asking them to do something that I wonder if we ourselves would do. First, Geneva officers have nothing to do with deportation. They would potentially be called upon to identify and assist in arrest. I believe we must be obedient to the relevant state and federal laws. This is the Trust Act in Illinois, but that is would be overridden by a federal warrant, if it exists.
What are your top three priorities for our city, and how do you plan to address them?
Geneva needs to maintain its historical character. We need to be more thoughtful, although not to reject, development. City services like roads and sewers, while mundane, will need to be a priority as they age. This can be expensive. These are all important quality of life issues for people across the city, not just downtown.
How do you intend to balance economic development with environmental sustainability in the community?
If it can be done without being overly expensive, Geneva should make every effort to move to being a greener community. However, citizens must be aware when that involves greater expense. Older buildings, were possible must be retained, provided they are not hazards.
What are your plans for enhancing public transportation and infrastructure in the city?
I don’t see a clear role for “public transport” within the city. However, the reworking of the train station is a great thing for the city. As I mentioned earlier, I believe that we will need to develop a plan to deal with aging roads, sewers and electric lines. This will need its own plan, perhaps of greater concern then what is in the Comprehensive Plan to date.
What role should the city council play in supporting local businesses and economic growth?
Where possible and within reason. Perhaps the best way is to streamline the ability of businesses to buy and fix-up or make use of existing spaces. However, we must take a much closer and more careful look at the use of TIFs, they are not the panacea that they are pitched to be. Rather this creates long term future burdens and rob the city of money for things like schools and such.
What are your top public safety concerns for our community and how would you propose addressing them?
I think that Geneva is a generally safe space. I believe that our police and fire have done a really great job of keeping us safe. I never fear for my kids when they were younger. I would return to the concerns about the safety of streets, sewers and power, that needs addressed. We would need to have someone make an assessment and produce a plan with costs. For example the sewer line on my street is over 100 years old and is, in parts, lined with brick.
How will you ensure that city policies promote inclusion for all residents?
I don’t see Geneva as having that as an issue. I have been here since 2001 and I can’t say I have seen that as a concern. I have found people in Geneva to be welcoming. I do think there is sometimes too much a fixation on the immediate downtown area by our leaders, but that is not a serious complaint.
Do you support requiring government officials to publicly disclose potential conflicts of interest, and how would you enforce this?
Yes. Well it should be required on forms that they fill out to run. I believe that Geneva already does this.
How will you make sure you are accessible to your constituents?
I have two bigger immediate ideas. The first is to make use of social media, especially Facebook (there are two Geneva pages) and things like Nextdoor.com to push out encouragement that people in the ward should be aware of information that gets posted on the city website. Also to use these and my email for immediate feedback or questions. I want to put a drop box out by mail box incase folks want to submit ideas or other issues, but do so on paper or anonymously.